Guest Column: Broncos treating the NFL like it's the preseason

The Denver Broncos celebrate after Trindon Holliday, second from left at rear, returned a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown during the Broncos' 52-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013, in Denver. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Daily News, David Maialetti) THE EVENING BULLETIN, TV OUT, MAGS OUT, NO SALES

Does it even matter that the Broncos slapped around the Eagles like some college dorm kid playing Madden while sipping a smuggled six-pack?

Sunday was a glorious Denver day — 76 and sunny, 52-20 — but with the talent the Broncos have, and with the ghost of Jacoby Jones haunting Sports Authority Field at Mile High, these regular-season games are really just preseason games, leading into the only games that matter.

I hate to rain on the parade you’re already planning for February, but here’s a question. Just because the Broncos are dominating in September, does it mean anything, as long as you’re playing well heading into the playoffs? Or does that even matter, considering the Ravens lost four of their final five last season, before, of course, going undefeated in the postseason.

Asked about the “20-preseason games” theory, Broncos receiver Eric Decker said: “In this league, if you have that mentality, it’s going to sneak up and hurt you on Sunday. So it’s every week coming out and playing your best football — learning, digesting and doing it again the next week. And by the time you get to January and February, you’ll be in a good position, and everything else will take care of itself. We can’t lose focus with every game.”

What else is he going to say, though? Look, other teams (Indianapolis, Kansas City, Miami) are growing, learning about each other with each game, building toward January.

The Broncos are just killing time. Really, for all the Denver accolades this season, this is the only Denver accomplishment that really matters — Peyton Manning did not get hurt.

What if a Bronco said: “We don’t have Von Miller, Ryan Clady and Champ Bailey and we beat the Eagles as if they’re the Boston College Eagles. As long as we’ve got Peyton in the playoffs, who cares that we won — or even if we lost — in Week 4? Let’s just be healthy for Week 18.”

And that’s what’s crazy about this crazy league — as The Post’s Mike Klis recently reported, the past eight Super Bowl winners have averaged 10.9 victories and a 3.9 playoff seed. So who’s to say being hot entering the playoffs even matters? But what are the Broncos to do? They’re going to approach this thing the only way they know how, and that’s playing at a stupid-high level each week — hoping they’ll then play at stupid-high level in the playoffs.

“We don’t know what complacent means. We’re hungry,” Broncos safety Rahim Moore said. “The way we play on the field. That’s how (intense) we are in meetings. We take pride in what we do, we work hard and we have a bunch of guys who love football — and it shows. You can tell by our plays, guys having fun.”

It’s wild that we’re heading into only Week 5, and the Broncos have this feel of a dominating baseball team playing out August and September. Perhaps the best thing going for the Broncos is that Kansas City no longer is playing like Kansas City. The Chiefs are also 4-0, even if those four haven’t been Madden-y, they count the same in the AFC West standings. Denver plays the Chiefs twice in three weeks (Nov. 17 and Dec. 1), with a road game at New England wedged in between.

“They show a challenge for us down the road,” Decker said, “and we’ve got to make sure we’re on top of it and stay with them, and that we have an opportunity to make a mark.”